Concerns have been raised by a police panel after officers strip-searched a young black man in a public toilet despite having “no grounds” to do so.

The Scrutiny of Police Powers panel, which works with the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), said they felt officers’ actions were “disproportionate” and questioned if there was “bias” because the detainee was Black or Ethnic Minority (BME).

They were looking into a case of a young black man being searched in a toilet despite having no link to the incident officers had been called out for.

It turned out the man had been a victim of crime himself, but officers wanted to continue to question the man and “escalate the use of police powers”, even though they had “no reasonable grounds” to do so.

The panel - which is made up of independent members of the public - said the strip-search in a public toilet was “inappropriate” and could have had a harmful impact on the young man.

What happened?

When the officers arrived at a scene, they spotted the 22-year-old man near the scene and gave chase. The man ran into the public toilets in St Paul’s and locked himself in, but police managed to get to him.

The three officers carried out a strip-search in the toilet, and drug paraphernalia was found on him.

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But no further action was taken in relation to the drugs or robbery, police confirmed, and nothing else was found on him.

Avon and Somerset police added the man had given the officers false details and when his true identity was established later, he was arrested for a recall to prison.

The panel felt the actions of the police officers were “disproportionate” and that there had been “no grounds” for a strip-search other than the fact he ran from officers.

Was it because he was black?

Concerns police officers' action was 'disproportionate'

The panel members said they had concerns about whether the man had been strip-searched because of his race.

In their report, they said: “The officers seemed very concerned to continue to question and escalate the use of police powers with this individual despite the seeming absence of any grounds other than the initial running from the officers.

“The initial call to the police was for an assault which almost immediately the officers translated this into questioning of the man in relation to drugs.

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“To carry out a strip search in the circumstances seemed disproportionate and to do this in the public toilets seemed inappropriate and could potentially have had a harmful effect on the individual.

“He disclosed that he had been a victim of crime himself and found the process distressing.

“One of the panel members questioned whether or not this case raised issues of conscious or unconscious bias given that the detainee was BME.”

When can police carry out a search?

Assistant Chief Constable Steve Cullen

Chief Inspector Paul Wigginton of Avon and Somerset police told the panel in order to complete a basic stop search, a police officer needs to have “reasonable grounds” for suspecting they will find the items sought.

As such, they are not able to stop a random group of people to complete a search.

If officers complete a basic stop search, they are able to remove the jacket, outer clothing and gloves.

If additional items need to be removed - such as a strip-search - “consideration should be given” to take them somewhere private, the police said.

Mr Wigginton said police needed to learn from this incident. It includes officers needed “a fuller rationale” to be recorded on stop search incident records.

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He added when an initial report related to a different matter and officers decided to change approach - as with the case - it is essential the full rationale is recorded.

Assistant Chief Constable Steve Cullen, who is responsible for Response, Neighbourhoods and Partnerships, said: “We want to be as open and transparent as possible about our use of powers, so the independent scrutiny is an important way of us showing how and why we use them through the evaluation of actual incidents.

“As a learning organisation we’re always striving to improve, so we greatly value the input and feedback from the panel members.”